We had made the commitment early on Friday to jog, and said we’d meet in the lobby at 8:30 a.m. As we broke up from drinks (we had to debrief with Kristy and Bobby after the Nobu night afterall) at 2:30 a.m., we had the wherewithal to realize 8:30 a.m. would be hard to do.
So we pushed it back to 9 a.m.
I do believe this was one of those mornings where I attempted to jog still intoxicated from the night before. But jog we did, and embarrass myself by having to stop and walk part-way through, I did.
The rest of Saturday was pretty lazy – a late breakfast, a stroll with the group down Lincoln Road and Espanola Way, and attempt to find a cheap pedicure (haha!), a half-hour nap, and then we all gathered again for dinner.
One of Brian’s friends had recommended an Italian restaurant a few blocks from the beach. I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of Italian (who is when you know you have a bathing suit to wear the next morning?), but had nothing better to suggest.
And I’m glad I didn’t. A jewel of a place, we opted for the five course tasting menu. That, by the way, was the full description of the meal. No, “choose one from this, one from that.” It was described to us as completely up to the whim of the chef that night. What I love about this group is that most of us were game.
Of course it was even better with the wine pairings, too.
Asparagus flan, caramelized fennel risotto, and lots of other deliciousness. Oh, Mike and another one of our group didn’t get the tasting menu, but Mike got this:
Just a big platter of Parmesan and prosciutto.
Also really cool about this place was that there were five people working the entire restaurant. Yes, it was a small restaurant, and it had an atmosphere where you expected to have a slow meal, but still quite impressive. There was a main waiter who was also the host, an assistant waiter/ food runner/ buser, a chef, an assistant chef, and a dishwasher. That’s it.
Three hours later, we headed to a wine bar on the recommendation of one of Robert’s friends. Mike and three of us girls bailed pretty early on that, while the other half of the group lived up their last night in Miami.
Sunday morning was Easter. A gorgeous solo run at sunrise got me in the mood for the day, but Easter services quickly got me out of it!
Mike and I ended up going to a Catholic church with Kristin. As you can probably guess, it wasn’t easy to find a Presbyterian church in South Beach. Catholic churches, on the other hand, were abundant. And we decided the additional fellowship with Kristin was worth going with her.
So we all dressed up and headed out for 8 a.m. service. Note to self: when packing for Miami beach, don’t worry so much about dressy clothes for church.
Mike was one of several people in a suit at the service. Unfortunately, the others were in the swim type of suits. He guessed that he was probably the only person in the church actually wearing socks. Including the priest.
And I know that Holy Week is a busy one for priests and all, but when this one decided to read the lyrics to “Hero” by Mariah Carey as his homily, throwing in a few “Jesus’s,” really, what else could we do but chuckle?
Memorable, yes. Spiritual? Not so much.
Brunch with everyone at Van Dyke’s on Lincoln Road, and then Kristin and Robert had to leave for the airport.
The rest of us headed to the pool one more time, and once Brian finally staked out enough lounge chairs, spent a pretty relaxing afternoon there. Mike made everyone’s afternoon by bringing Corona’s and chips and guacamole we had picked up on the way back from brunch down poolside.
Before Kristy, Bobby, Heather and Brian had to leave we walked to a Cuban restaurant for a late lunch/ early dinner. I had these sliders made of ground sausage and pork and topped with fried onions that were out of this world.
The rest of the afternoon alternated between watching the masters and taking Mike for a long walk down Ocean Drive, back up Collins and finally back over to Lincoln for my Easter chocolate Ghirardelli sundae.
It was a pretty early night for us, one last jog on the beach for me this morning, and now I’m typing this on the plane ride back to DC!
All in all, a hugely successful trip. One of my favorite things to do is eat, and this is a group of champion eaters!
4 comments:
Sounds like y'all had an awesome time! I'm still sad that the timing was such that we couldn't join you.
I have no words for that parish. Wow. We also had an interesting Mass experience with Kristin on our trip out to Vegas. Some guy's cell phone rang not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES during Mass. The third time, he actually answered it. Kristin, of course, deadpanned that she sure as heck hoped it was God calling, because otherwise his behavior was totally unacceptable.
(FWIW, I'm sort of forgiving if a phone rings once in church-- I figure a slip can happen to anyone. But I think one ring should remind everyone to check his or her phone, and certainly the same person should know after one ringing episode to turn the darn thing off!)
Can't wait to see the photos . . . .
While we're talking about churches in Miami, the wedding we went to was at the charming "Miami Beach Community Church" on Lincoln Road (yes, the house of worship between night clubs and restaurants). It was pretty cool. The stain glass windows had star fish and sand dollars in them.
JB
I think that if we had pushed our morning run back another 15 minutes, we would have increased our speed to a six minute mile pace. . . .
Also, don't forget that Mike and I split a *second* order of prosciutto for dessert. It was a classy choice.
I was talking to my buddy from Miami, who reminded me that we went out for food Saturday night after going out to the second bar. So I got home at 4:00am, which I had totally forgotten. Good times.
You people and your Miami stories are killing me! Everyone knows I am the First Lady of Miami. Well, in my own mind of course.
Looks like a great time Mo! I especially loved the dish about the hockey players. Even though I have no clue who they are and pretty much only get excited when I see Ricky Martin in Miami :) Great pics also!
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